NHS medic and busy mum Dr Emily MacDonagh talks parenting, healthy minds and looks forward to the birth of her third baby with husband, Peter Andre
EVE MACDONALD
With two young children, another on the way and a busy job as an NHS doctor, Emily Andre has a packed year ahead.
But the 34-year-old isn’t taking her foot off the pedal any time soon and when new sits down for an exclusive chat with the mum, who’s due to give birth in spring, she’s keen to chat about her new children’s mental health book, Healthy Mind, Happy You.
“It can get a little busy at times,” Emily – who is known professionally as Dr Emily MacDonagh – laughs of her hectic schedule. “But we’re getting there and things always work out.”
Our catch-up also gives us the perfect opportunity to find out more about the dynamic between her own children Millie, 10, and Theo, seven, and step-children Princess, 16, and 18-year-old Junior, who she shares with singer husband Peter Andre, 50.
Here, Dr Emily opens up on the experiences that inspired her to put pen to paper, the strive to be the perfect parent and why having older siblings is a blessing…
Hi, Emily. You must be on the countdown to baby number three’s arrival!
We’re getting there. We’re moving bedrooms around at the minute so there’s a bit of shuffling going on. It suddenly feels like I don’t have long left now and need to catch up on things, so there are parcels arriving every day. Also, I love my sleep and so does Pete, so fingers crossed it’s another baby like Millie, she slept so well! But we’ll work it out, we always do. We are so excited.
It sounds like a busy household. How do you make sure everyone feels heard and listened to?
We encourage the kids to talk about anything that is worrying them but no one is a perfect parent. I’m 100% not, but I always try to be open with them and hope they do the same. For me, when it comes to supporting your kids, knowing what’s going on in their lives and being there for them is the most important thing. I want them to feel like they’re able to talk about things with me.
What steps do you put in place to make sure they do talk to you?
Every day at dinner time Millie and Theo ask, “Can we put the TV on?” but I encourage them to use that time to find out about their day and ask things like, “What was good about it?” Or, “Were there any bad bits?” It gives them a chance to bring something up withou
